


flights booked in advance

by alileely



Series: a little wonder's 23 days of wonder entries [12]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Heartbreak, M/M, Moving On, airfare promos, and shattered hearts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:09:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28212180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alileely/pseuds/alileely
Summary: At the time, a trip to Hawaii had seemed like a good idea. But maybe nine months was too long to wait, and hearts, as Jaehyun would come to realize, are highly volatile — and so tragically fragile.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun
Series: a little wonder's 23 days of wonder entries [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2048756
Kudos: 12





	flights booked in advance

_Ten minutes._

Jaehyun sat fidgety, gripping flight tickets for two so tightly that it formed wrinkles on the edges. There was a clock just ahead of him, and he had been staring at it for the past one and a half hour as he waited. For what, he didn't know.

 _Seven minutes_ , he thought. Still enough time.

There was an empty space beside him, and Jaehyun could fell an ache well up in his gut, almost paralyzing as it coursed up a hot trail through his chest, lodging itself in the back of his throat. Its existence, unbridled in his gossamer body, brought images he had tried to forget, tried to drown in cheap beer and strangers' mouths. Nothing, it seemed, would work. The entire time, the two tickets had been tucked away, not visible, not forgotten.

Jaehyun had played around with the idea of going on this trip, and flirted with the thought of making that one phone call that could cancel the entire trip. He had pushed and pulled for three months, but in the end, he found himself sitting at the airport, feet tapping impatiently — no, _nervously_ — and tense hands threatening to rip the fragile paper into pieces. _Waiting_.

It was five more minutes before 5:30 PM, and Jaehyun had half a mind to bolt right out of there as if he could run away from everything, run away from everything that tied him back to _him_.

Stupid, really. He had already tried. So many times.

Jaehyun allowed himself to close his eyes as his vision swam with images — ones he thought were long gone, buried under heaps of pain and regret. Ones he wanted _so desperately_ to forget. He remembered that smile, and how he had been so good to him. The soft kisses he would press on his shoulder, and the way his fingers would play softly on his thigh as they sat next to each other. It was always the little things about him that caused Jaehyun to unravel.

So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when Sicheng pulled the last thread with nine simple words. Just nine, each word plunging in like a knife to his heart.

_"I don't think I can do this anymore, Jae."_

"Calling all passengers travelling to Honolulu on Flight NC1270. Please have your boarding passes and passports ready for boarding. Flight NC1270 now boarding at Gate 23."

Jaehyun paused.

 _A perfectly good waste of plane tickets_ , Taeyong had told him a week after they purchased it. _There are way cheaper deals for couples on Valentine's._

His grip on the tickets loosened as he stared almost fondly at them, thumbing the creases around it. He remembered booking the flight way back in Christmas last year. The airline had a promo and it seemed like a good deal. Sicheng had thought it was a good idea, too, though he had laughed at the impulsive decision. If Jaehyun was being honest, the only reason he did it was because Sicheng had spent a few months in Hawaii for a business trip, the longest time they had been apart. He wanted to see Hawaii through his eyes — all the places he went to, the food he ate, the air he breathed. They spent weeks planning their trip to Hawaii, creating a bucket list. Snorkeling, helicopter flights, beach tours, ziplines, sunsets on the beach... they had made a whole plan together, but Jaehyun had his own.

The small box weighed heavily in Jaehyun's back pocket, and he didn't know whether it was the box or the ring inside it that held him to his seat.

_Six minutes._

Jaehyun thought people were exaggerating the pain. They weren't.

It still hurt every time he saw Sicheng's blue checkered flannel that he had left at his place. It was in the laundry when Sicheng moved out, and Jaehyun found that his heart wrenched every time he heard his voice, even filtered through the phone, so he didn't bother calling. Until now, he couldn't bring himself to look at the box of photos stashed under his bed, just a bunch of discarded memories. Every morning, Jaehyun woke up, expecting to hear the usual sounds of water running in the shower, or the faint sounds of morning cartoons playing. But there was none of that. None of the routine smell of something burning in the kitchen, nor the featherlight kisses that gently beckoned him awake.

"This is the final boarding call for passenger Jung Jaehyun booked on Flight NC1270 to Honolulu. Please proceed to Gate 23 immediately. I repeat. This is the final boarding call for Jung Jaehyun. Thank you."

_Eleven minutes past 5:30 PM._

Heart in his throat, Jaehyun took a deep breath as he stood up on legs that threatened to give way under him. Off to his right, he could see the exits and a waiting line for cabs. To his left, he could see Gate 23, two flight attendants chatting as they waited.

He breathed in, all the while feeling a weight push down on his chest.

And then, he took a step.

**Author's Note:**

> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/alileely) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/alileely)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!!! I hope you enjoyed. Please feel free to leave kudos, comments, suggestions, or constructive criticisms; they are always welcome and highly appreciated!!!
> 
> Sending u hugs ♡


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